Lese majeste acquittal confirmed

Surapak Puchaisaeng was a computer programmer when he was arrested on lese majeste and Computer-related Crime Act charges on 1 September 2011. He was aged 40 at the time. Police arrested him for allegedly insulting the king on a Facebook page.

Our very long post on his case is important for Surapak is one of the very few we know of who has managed to be acquitted on these charges.

Without repeating the details of the case, on 13 August 2015, the Supreme Court affirmed the “decisions of the Court of First Instance and the Appeal Court, to acquit Surapak … on charges of creating a lèse majesté Facebook page, parodying the oath of succession of the monarch.”

The courts all took the view that the evidence was weak. In fact, it seems highly likely that the authorities tampered with the “evidence.”

Surapak was kept in jail for more than one year and should be compensated. There should be an investigation into the tampering with the evidence.